American Forests Names New Science Advisory Board Members

Washington, D.C.; February 28, 2014 — Today, American Forests named two respected natural resources scientists to join its Science Advisory Board. Dr. Paul K. Barten and Dr. Jennifer Jenkins join 11 other board members to inform and evaluate American Forests’ forest restoration work and public policy initiatives, including helping develop new programs and projects.

“We are deeply committed to employing sound science in our forest protection and restoration work,” says Scott Steen, American Forests President and CEO. “The Science Advisory Board ensures that both our board of directors and staff have access to some of the best thinking in the world from a wide variety of forest-related disciplines, including ecology, genetics, hydrology, evolutionary biology, urban forestry, fire and more.”

The American Forests Science Advisory Board members represent a diversity of fields, geographic areas and work experience to help address the myriad of issues facing America’s rural and urban forests.

Dr. Paul K. Barten is professor of forestry and hydrology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and executive director of the Great Mountain Forest in northwestern Connecticut. His research includes field and modeling projects focusing on forests, land use, streamflow, water quality and aquatic ecosystems. The primary motivation for this work is the protection of drinking water supplies and aquatic ecosystems in collaboration with local communities, water utilities, nongovernmental organizations and state and federal agencies. In many cases, this involves the development and application of GIS-based analytical methods to identify and prioritize critical areas for conservation, restoration and stormwater management in large, diverse watersheds. He has served on three National Research Council study teams, in 2000, 2004 and 2008, and as scientist-at-large on the research planning committee of the Sustainable Forest Management Network in Canada from 2003 to 2010. He was a Bullard Fellow at the Harvard Forest from 2003 to 2004. Dr. Barten received his associate degree in forestry and surveying from the New York State Ranger School at Wanakena, his bachelor’s degree in forest resources management from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and his master’s and doctoral degrees in forest hydrology and watershed management from the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Jennifer Jenkins is the Director of Science and Strategy at Applied Geosolutions, LLC (AGS) in Washington, D.C., and develops partnerships with both political agencies and nongovernmental sectors who focus on sustainable development, greenhouse gas mitigation and adaption, food security and agricultural and forestry programs. Prior to joining AGS in 2014, Dr. Jenkins worked in the Climate Change Division at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). At the EPA, she was the primary expert on forest-related climate policy and the physical scientist who accounted for greenhouse gas emissions from bioenergy and other biogenic sources for policies like the Clean Air Act. She was a member of the research team and science advisory board at the University of Vermont’s Rubenstein School of Natural Resources from 2002 to 2009, was a research forester at the U.S. Forest Service from 1998 to 2002 and shares the Nobel Peace Prize with authors and editors of work by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and former Vice President Al Gore. Dr. Jenkins received a bachelor’s degree in biology with an environmental studies and education concentration from Dartmouth College, a master’s degree in forest science from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and a doctoral degree in natural resources from the University of New Hampshire.

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All board members are available for interviews. Please contact Lea Sloan (lsloan@americanforests.org; 202-370-4509) to set up a conversation with an American Forests Science Advisory Board member or with American Forests President and CEO Scott Steen.

About American Forests

American Forests restores and protects urban and rural forests. Founded in 1875, the oldest national nonprofit conservation organization in the country has served as a catalyst for many of the most important milestones in the conservation movement, including the founding of the U.S. Forest Service, the national forest and national park systems, and literally thousands of forest ecosystem restoration projects and public education efforts. Since 1990, American Forests has planted more than 45 million trees in forests throughout the U.S. and beyond, resulting in cleaner air and drinking water, restored habitat for wildlife and fish, and the removal of millions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Learn more at www.americanforests.org.